


Billy

by angledust



Category: Ripley Series - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: Gen, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-09
Updated: 2010-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-13 14:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/138301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angledust/pseuds/angledust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heloise wonders about the strange boy in the guest-room. Set during "The boy who followed Ripley."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Billy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zopyrus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zopyrus/gifts).



“And what is Tom doing with himself at the moment?”  


“Heloise looked up at her father with a smile. His tone managed to both turn her husbands name into an insult and convey that he thought he knew exactly what Tom was doing, nothing, as usual.  


“Oh, Tom is always busy with one thing or another.” She took another bite of the beef. She wondered what he would think if she told him what Tom was doing right now. The young boy he was spending the evening with. No doubt he would be appalled, leaping to all the wrong conclusions, so sure he knew exactly what was going on. Her fathers low opinion of Tom extended to every aspect of his personality, especially sexuality.  


“I always hoped you would find a man who could support you.” Her father was not going to give up tonight.  


“Father…” she warned. Of course, she knew it was nothing like that. Tom was a social person. He was always bringing people home. People took to him, because he was interested in them. In fact he was more interested in others than himself, unlike some people, who only cared about what they thought, what they had to say.  


“But he makes you happy, doesn’t he?” Her mother had a tendancy to step into the role of defending Tom when it was just the three of them. Whether that was to undermine her husband or to defend her daughter’s choices Heloise didn’t know. Her mother had once told her, early on in her relationship, that there was something wrong with Tom. What exactly that was she had been unable or unwilling to elaborate on. She seemed to have grown to like Tom though, or at least was less vocal in her dislike than her father.  


“Yes, he does.” Heloise knew she had better change the subject, or they would be on this all night. “I‘m busy too. In fact Noelle has been planning a cruise. To the Antarctic of all places.”  


Her mother made an appreciative ‘ooh’ noise.  


“Will Antoine be going with you?” Her father quite liked Noelle‘s husband. A respectable man.  


“No, he is away on business. So it will be just the two of us.”  


“When do you intend to go?” Her father sounded happier now. He always encouraged her to travel. Maybe he hoped she would meet some cold weather loving tycoon or ship's captain down in the Antarctic. Maybe she would, but she wouldn’t be leaving Tom for them.  


…  


“You could have taken me.” Heloise didn’t like the way the words came out. It wasn’t that she was jealous. Left out, maybe, a little. The boy had been staying here for more than a week. And she still had no idea why. She was happy with Tom having his own life, but it was starting to intrude on hers. “I wish you’d said it last night.”  


“We’re going to Beauborg, and you’ve already seen the show with Noelle,” Tom said, but she was hardly listening.  


“What’s the matter with this Billy?” He was nothing like the man who had stayed last night. Eric Lanz, staying as a favour for Reeves. As much as she disliked Reeves she could understand that, that was business. Oh God, she sounded just like her father.  


“The matter?”  


Billy was personal. She wished Tom would tell her a little more. Maybe she could help the boy with whatever worried him, talk about it with him? Why was he so secretive about the boy? Like Billy was a project he wanted to keep for himself. “He looks troubled about something. And he seems to adore you. Is he a tapette?” The casual term slipped easier from her lips than anything formal.  


“Not that I can see. Do you think so?”  


She didn’t. At least she didn’t think there was anything between Tom and him. Maybe the boy looked up to the older man, but she couldn’t imagine Tom doing anything so sordid.  


“How long does he want to stay with us? He’s been here nearly a week, no?” The boy was running from something, obviously troubled. As much as Tom cared for him she wasn’t sure he was the best person to help him with this.  


…  


She kissed Billy goodbye at the airport, and meant it when she wished him luck. He was a good kid really, good taste in music, hardworking, loved the outdoors. If only he could shake off this slump, she was sure she would have grown to like him. Hopefully the trip would help him forget his problems. After that he would go home to his family, surely the best place for him.  


As she drove away she was surprised by how relieved she felt, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was the sense of having something to hide, it had been wearing on her. She wondered if that was how Tom felt, a lot of the time, over the business with the Derwatts, that Murchinson man. If so, how did he deal with it so well? She would call her mother today, see how she was. She felt like she had taken a brief trip away as she drove through the familiar roads, and now she was returning to her real life.  


…  


She had vaguely expected to see Frank back again with him. After the kidnapping, nothing would surprise her anymore. But he was alone, weighed down with suitcases and bags. He kissed her and then she knew there was something wrong. The way he looked at her, or didn’t.  


“I may as well tell you now. Frank died the day before yesterday.” When he told her they were already driving. It was a shock rather than a surprise.  


“What do you mean died?” she asked. But she knew right away the boy had killed himself. Whatever he had been running from had caught up with him. Whatever was troubling him, it had started long before the kidnapping, and had only grown worse.  
She took the long route through Villeperce to give them time to talk. She could tell he was in pain, though he tried to hide it. Tom told her where he found the boy, at the bottom of the same cliffs his father had fallen from, just after he jumped. He had had to tell the family. Then they were home, driving through the gates. “-I will tell you more later maybe, darling.”  
“Yes, you must tell me,” she said as she got out of the car. “I liked Frank, you know? Finally, I mean. I didn’t like him at first.”  


...  


Inside the house looked almost exactly as it had done those few weeks ago, before Billy, Frank, arrived. As if he had never existed, or all memory of the boy had been erased along with him. Tom looked around the room as though drinking it in. His eyes settled on the Derwatt. “It’s so good to be home. You know, the Piersons have ‘The Rainbow’? Did I mention that or not? You know, one of the - a very good Derwatt.”  


“Really?” she said, catching his slip.  
Tom laughed.For the first time since the airport he seemed at ease.  
“How can you look so cheerful, when the boy is dead?” Heloise spoke in English so the returning Mme Annette wouldn’t notice.  
“Maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet. It was so sudden - a shock to everyone in the house. Frank’s older brother was there, Johnny. Frank was very unhappy because of a girl. I told you that. Teresa.” Tom had mentioned a girl before. She knew young people did foolish things when broken-hearted but she couldn’t believe it was just that. People didn’t usually travel halfway across the world just to get away from an ex-lover. “Plus his father’s death,” Tom added.  
When Tom went to wash up Heloise sat down on the couch and sipped at her water. The morning light through the window warmed her back. It was still only September, they hadn’t had the last of the summer sun here. She would be away soon, in the Antarctic, so best to enjoy the warmth while she could. There was no visible change in the room, but she felt something was different. She was sure it wouldn’t last long. Tom was unlikely to want to talk about Frank anymore now the when he was alive. Things would go back to normal, in a few weeks, it would be like Frank had never existed. For some reason she found that terribly sad. For the first time she wondered why they had never had children. Not babies. But teenagers. Teenagers could be wonderful. A new life, just starting… Of course, these events had probably put Tom off that for life. She might never know the truth about the boy. She supposed it didnt matter now. In a few days this would all be behind them, their lives would go on much the same as before.


End file.
